NameGirl — Loving Localicious Swirl :)

Rodney — Thanks for the props — and I’ll write more ’bout almonds later :)

Anyway here’s a question for you that might highlight the need for a nuanced perspective regarding the buy-local issue.

Q. How should someone in Southern Cal like yourself feel about eating some of our fair trade organic almonds, which are grown by Big Tree Organic farmers co-op in California?

- They’re were grown as close as to you as any almonds you can find.
- Yet for the roasting, packaging, marketing and distribution steps they passed through two East Coast worker co-ops on their way to your local co-op.
- And, of course, they’re organic & fairly traded?

We at Equal Exchange, of course, believe that if you take the broadest perspective, looking at the entire food system, the gains from promoting co-op economic models (and not mega-corporate models) and organic and fair trade more than justify the almonds’ cross-country trip, but I’d really like to hear other’s perspective on this.

Yum